Ryan Nguyen had the world by the tail.

After several years of hard work, the San Jose native recently graduated from UC Riverside with a bachelors degree in business administration and a job already lined up back home.

First on his agenda, however, was a fun-and-sun-filled vacation with his family in the Bahamas a place hed never been and was eager to experience.

But on Tuesday, during an afternoon snorkeling trip with his family, the 20-year-old apparently lost consciousness and drowned.

It was a freak accident, said his older brother, Shawn.

His family remains in shock, he said, still hoping for answers about what Shawn, 22, characterized as an unexplained drowning. Ocean conditions at the time, he said, were ideal.

Ryan had graduated on Friday, June 16 following in the footsteps of his big brother, also a UC Riverside business administration grad. Both of them were members of the same fraternity, Phi Kappa Sigma.

He was the most genuine guy you could ever meet, said Shawn, a consultant for a software company in Orange County.He always put a smile on peoples faces, and he knew how to take a joke. He was just a really great kid. He had his whole life ahead of him.

The second son of parents Vivian and Thuy Nguyen, who later divorced, Ryan like Shawn had played football at San Joses Leigh High School, where both brothers were running backs for the Longhorns.

When Ryan got accepted to UC Riverside, Shawn looked out for him, proud to introduce him to members of his fraternity, where they bonded with so many others.

Im glad we got to do that, Shawn said. It was the best decision of both our lives.

On June 17, just hours after they had finished celebrating the graduation ceremony, the brothers flew from Southern California to Houston. They met up with their mother and stepfather Michael Than, and two stepsisters, 8-year-old Madelyn Than and 10-year-old Makayla Than, then headed to Nassau.

By Tuesday, the family had signed up for a day of snorkeling, all of them piling onto a boat headed out to sea. Everyone was fitted with a life vest.

We all know how to swim, Shawn said. There were kids of all ages out there swimming, and adults. I was by his side the whole time.

Every time the brothers went to a new snorkeling site, Shawn said, it was a 30-minute session. But at some point in the mid-afternoon, the two got separated.

When it was time to go, the guide blew a whistle, calling us to get back into the boat, Shawn recalled. But Ryan didnt return. We were yelling his name and couldnt find him. Then we saw his bright green vest, about 80 to 100 yards away.

By the time they reached Ryan around 3 p.m. in waters off Rose Island, he was floating, lifeless.

We brought him onto the boat, but he was already unresponsive, Shawn said.

The guide immediately began CPR, turned the boat around and headed back to land, calling ahead for an ambulance to meet them as soon as they arrived.

Ryan was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A report in the Bahamas Weekly the next day said police were investigating the circumstances and that an autopsy would be performed to determine the cause of death.

Back in the U.S., Shawn is still trying to make sense of the loss.

There is no reasonable explanation for why this happened, except that it was his time to go, he said, haltingly. Theres a reason for everything, and it may not be clear now, but God had bigger plans for him.

And somewhere, behind the grief and tears, is a lesson, the brother said.

Hopefully, it lets people know not to take things for granted and to hold your family even closer, Shawn said. Because you never know when things will happen. You can never plan for it, or expect it.

Ryan Nguyen is also survived by his stepmother, Phung Nguyen, and 10-year-old twin stepsisters, Haley and Kaley Nguyen, all of San Jose.

A visitation and prayer service will be held Friday at the Darling-Fischer Garden Chapel, 471 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose. A mass will be held Saturday morning at Holy Family Parish, 4848 Pearl Ave., San Jose, followed by interment at Oak Hill Memorial Park, 300 Curtner Avenue, San Jose. The times of the services are pending.

A candlelight vigil will be held at 8 p.m. Sunday at the UC Riverside bell tower.A GoFundMe page has also been established for Ryan.

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College grad from San Jose drowns in Bahamas - The Mercury News - The Mercury News